Big Lottery Fund

It is up to you to decide whether you want to commission an external evaluator or carry out self-evaluation using your own project team and resources.

Or you might prefer to use a mixture of both approaches.  The benefits of each approach are as follows:

Advantages of doing self-evaluation yourself:

• You and your staff have in-depth knowledge of how your organisation works. You are sensitive to the needs of your project and its users
• It enables your staff to learn new skills
• It actively encourages reflection and learning by those involved, which is more likely to lead to change in your organisation
• You will save on project costs

Advantages of commissioning an external agency to do self-evaluation:

• The evaluation will take up less staff time
• Interviewees may talk more freely
• External evaluators may find it easier to identify areas of weakness
• It avoids conflicts of interest as the evaluators are independent
• Specialists will have evaluation skills
• The end result may be seen as more objective/credible by others